Water-tight receptacle



A. MEZZO WATER TIGHT RBQEPTACLE -Fi1ed May' 14 -1 MJT V4. ww@

A rra ewry,

Patented Mar. 3, 1935.

U N I T ESB S TA. TES E'P T :OfF FICE VJATER-TIGI-IT :RECEPTAGLEApplication. ledlMay 14, 1923. 'Serial No. 638,754.

To all 207mm it may conce/rn .Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Mezzo,having renounced my allegiance to therKing of Italy and declaredmy'intention `to become a citizen of thev United States, and nowresiding in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of NewJersey, havein- `vented anew and useful Improvement in VVater-TightReceptacles, as set forth in the annexed specification. Y

My invention relates that class of receptacles which are designed to`contain.articles `which it is necessary to Akeep `free from moisture,such as `ljewelry, matches, cigarettes, etc.,.and is intended for 'theuse of bathers 'or others'who, :from thenature of their occupation, maybe exposed to the elements. The invention comprises a metallic box ofconvenient shape to be attached to the person of the user, and isprovided with a cover' which may be firmly secured to the boX `in such amanner as to'eXclude water therefrom, and to preserve thecontentsfthereof in a. `perfectly dry condition. y

In the'accompanying drawing, forminga part hereof, l

Fig. 1 Ais a front view of the receptacle, showingthe cover in place andlocked to the box-body, and with a belt for securing the box to thewearer.

Fig. 2 is `asidefelevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section.

Fig. l is a bottom plan View.

Fig'. 5 is a fractional view of the bottom portion of the boi; body,showing the locking lever insection.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a slight modification, showin@` anotherform of cover sealing means.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout thespecification and drawing.

The box-body 1, is made of sheet metal, curved as shown to conform tothe person of the wearer, and having the usual inset bottom 2 solderedor otherwise secured in place as shown. rlhe upper or open end of thebox-body is inwardly beveled as at 3, to receive a similarly beveledcover e. The interior of the boX may be divided by crosspartitions 5,which are soldered or otherwise secured in place to form a plurality ofcompartments within which the articles may be stored and kept separate,as, for eX- ample: one compartment may contain cigarettes and anothermaycontain matches.

In order to 4form a seal for the receptacle, I provide the cover with asemi-cylindrical bead 6, whichcompletely surrounds the top of the coverfrom which the lbeveledfpart or margin 7 depends. lithin the cover andAconlforming to the generalcontour thereof, is

a strip or sheetof rubber 8, which is forced Vinto place and held withinthe coverby a metallic plate 9, which is ofthe same shape but slightlysmaller than the Vtop 'of `the cover, so thatitmay be forced into place,against the inner face of the coverfltop, with the margin of the stripof rubber hanging, skirt-like against vthe beveled margin 7 When thecover is applied to lthe `top vof the boXfl, and lforced down upon thebeveled part thereof, the rubber strip Sis compressed, and forms awater-tight seal for the boX. y

Upon the upper side `of the cover 4 isa pair of keepers 10, 11, solderedor otherwise lugs 14, 15, which 'serve as stops `yforv the lower ends ofbailf12; -theplate also has its ends cross-slit about half way with theparts 16, 17 rolled over to form keepers through which the locking wire18 is inserted. This locking wire is bent at its middle as shown v toform a sort of crank or arm by which the locking wire may be turned inthe keepers 16, 17. The ends of the locking wire are bent at rightangles 'just outside of the keepers and the extreme ends are formed intoeyes into which the eXtreme ends of the bail 12 are turned and fastenedas 4by riveting or upsetting. In order to still further strengthen thelocking wire 18, I may provide additional keepers near the middle bycross-slittingthe plate 13, and then rolling the parts 19, 2O over theadjacent parts of the wire 18. The crank or arm 21 may be strengthenedby wrapping around it the ferrule 22. The angle between the bent ends ofthe wire and the crank 21 is slightly less than a right angle, as shownin Fig. 2, so that when the crank lies iat against the plate, the bail12 will have swung across the line of centers of the keepers 16, 17 and19, 20; but when said crank is swung away from the plate 13, as shown indotted lines, the strain put upon the bail 12 will be relieved and thecover 4 will be raised toopen the box.

The metallic plate 9 may be of any metal susceptible of a high polish soas toform a mirror, so that when the box is opened as described, thecover may be so turned upon the bail as to expose the mirror to the viewof the wearer. Or if desired the plate may be corrugated to serve as asurface upon which to scratch friction matches.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a slight modification of the cover 4. In thiscase, the cover has the skirt-like beveled margin 7, forming a recess inwhich a rubber pad 23 is closely fitted. The sheet rubber strip 8 isthen placed against the pad, and the plate 13 is then secured in placeby the rivets 25, sogas to leave a free space completely surroundingsaid plate in order that the edge of the box 1 may be pressed firmlyagainst the rubber strip 8. In this manner, an additional safeguard isprovided for the exclusion of water or moisture from the box. It isunderstood that the means for locking the cover to the box is the sameas above described.

In order that the box with its contents may be secured to the person ofthe wearer, a hook is solderedV or otherwise secured to the rear face ofthe box, as at 26, by which it may be attached to a belt 27.

When the cover is pressed down firmly upon the top of the box 1, by theturning of the crank or arm 21 against the bottom plate 13, a firm andsecure lock is provided for the cover, and the contents of the box arekept safely from cont-act with water, although it may be immersedtherein.

Nhile I have shown and described the preferred form of construction formy improvement, yet other forms may be selected which will come withinthe spirit and scope of my invention, and I desire to include all suchconstructions and forms within the claims hereto appended.

I claim 1. In a water-tight receptacle, the combination of a box-body, acover therefor, said box-body and cover having complementary beveledmeeting edges, a fiat strip of rubber secured within said cover, andadapted to be compressed between said beveled edges when they arepressed together, a wire bail `pivotally secured to said cover havingits free ends extending parallel to the ends of said box-body, and alocking member pivotally secured to the bottom of said boxbody andhaving pivotal connection with the free ends of said bail, whereby themanipulation of said locking member serves to lock and unlock said coverand box-body.

2. In a water-tight receptacle, lthe combination of a box-body, a covertherefor, said box-body and cover having complementary beveled meetingedges, a fiat strip of rubber secured within said cover and adapted tobe compressed between said beveled edges when they are pressed together,a U-shaped bail pivotally secured to the top of said cover, a lockingwire pivotally secured to the bottom of said box-body, said wire havingits ends rectangularly bent and in pivotal engage- `ment with the freeends of said bail, whereby upon the rocking or turning of said lockingwire said bail will draw said cover into sealed engagement with saidbox-body.

ALEXANDER MEZZQ.

